Union Budget 2024: Finance Ministers who never presented the Union Budget

29 Dec 2023 , 12:30 PM

Have you ever envisioned a Finance Minister not delivering a Budget speech? In this post, we’ll look at several individuals who were never given an opprtunity to shine on Budget Day. Discover the fascinating experiences of five Finance Ministers who missed their Budget moment, from short-lived tenures to political turmoil.

First on the list is Kshitish Chandra Neogy, an Indian politician from West Bengal. He served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, a member of the first Cabinet of Independent India, and the chairman of the first Finance Commission of India. He served as the second Finance Minister for only 35 days in 1948, at the age of 19 years only, and never got a chance to present the Union Budget as his tenure came just after the First Budget had been presented.

The second name on this list is John Mathai, who was appointed as the Finance Minister shortly after the first budget, and presented two consecutive budgets during 1949-1950, and 1950-51. Sadly, he resigned in 1950.

Next on the list was Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. His tenure as Finance Minister was short and was forced to resign in 1975. This deprived him of this absolute highlighting moment in his career and led him to not present the Union Budget.

Narayan Dutt Tiwari, another name on the list, was unable to present the Union Budget. Unlike others, his tenure as the Finance Minister was not short. However, during his tenure, the budget was presented by the Prime Minister himself, which led to him not presenting the same.

The most known name among these Finance Ministers is Arun Jaitley, and you would be surprised to know that even he did not get a chance to present the Union Budget. He served as Finance Minister under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure. He temporarily set aside the opportunity to present the Union Budget in FY 2019-20 owing to his health issues. He passed on the command to now, Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.

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